# Could x beat y (sports)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 21, 2007, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-x-beat-y-sports/396827 "2007-03-21T05:16:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2007, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-x-beat-y-sports/396827/21 "2007-03-22T08:30:57Z")
I think the last time this came around the one sure place where women can totaly dominate is rock climbing, the top ranked climber is some tiny little thing I could probably throw a good 15 feet but can scale a wall like a spider. since her size in this case is an advantage its a win for the girls here. [http://www.greatoutdoors.com/published/general/profiles/lynnhill/](http://www.greatoutdoors.com/published/general/profiles/lynnhill/) > **[Camp4 - Live The Outdoors](https://www.camp4.com/?newsid=516)** > > We are avid campers and gearheads who love to review outdoor-related products. Keep your eye on our page for honest reviews of exciting new camping products. > **[List of climbers and mountaineers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_female_climbers)** > > This is a list of climbers and mountaineers who are notable for their activities in mountaineering (including alpine climbing), rock climbing (including aid climbing, free climbing, bouldering, speed climbing and competition climbing) or in ice climbing (including mixed climbing). ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2007, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-x-beat-y-sports/396827/22 "2007-03-22T12:41:14Z")
[QUOTE=Snarky\_Kong] Here are some links I’ve found that support my previous thoughts. > **[Weaker Sex?](https://www.lehigh.edu/~dmd1/amy.html)** > **[Could women outrun men in ultramarathon races? : Medicine & Science in Sports...](https://www.ovid.com/jnls/acsm-msse/abstract/00005768-199702000-00013~could-women-outrun-men-in-ultramarathon-races?year=1997&issue=02000&article=00013&type=abstract)** > > To test a hypothesis that the differences in running performances between men and women narrow with increasing race distance, recent best running... So, I dunno what conclusions to draw. Men are faster but don’t run as hard? [/QUOTE] Well, from your first link, let’s take the conclusion of the author of the paper: > [@](#): > > After looking at all the different data and accounts I have studied on this topic, I have come to a sad conclusion for women ultra runners today. I feel that women will never be able to be competitive with a man on an elite level. The evidence in Dr. Daniels study and by Andy Milroy leads me to believe that due to biological differences, women’s bodies do not function in the same way as a mans and are held back in ways that men are not. This was not the outcome that I had planned for my paper. My original idea was that I would prove that women could be competitive with men and on some levels, they can. My beliefs matched the quote at the beginning of this paper explicitly but in reality I have decided that the strength of the woman’s mind cannot overcome the differences in body composition. Although I agree that men are faster at ultrarunning than women, I do not share this view in other venues of life. My ideas on the subject best match those of Joan Benoit when she says, “I want to emphasize that the differences between men and women stem from their separate strengths. Let’s remember, our bodies have many functions, and running is just one of many uplifting experiences of our physical existence.” Now, the author is concluding that even in ultra-marathons, women cannot compete with men. So, please, what exactly was your point? :dubious: I will also point out the important point that, in any sport where there is limited competition, the statistics are always dubious because the “cream” may not have risen to the top. That is to say, we may not yet have the best at ultra-marathon running it. Which might account for the surprising result in 1971 discussed in the paper. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2007, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-x-beat-y-sports/396827/23 "2007-03-22T14:38:31Z")
Gymnastics events are very biased toward women in general. Women are far superior in the difficulty they can pull off in most routines. There are a couple “male” events designed to take isolated advantage of men’s upper body strength (rings, pommel horse) but otherwise I see no way men could compete at the same level as women can. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2007, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-x-beat-y-sports/396827/24 "2007-03-22T14:47:50Z")
[QUOTE=Omniscient] Basically the driver just has to be athletic enough to not fuck things up and the vehicle does all the competing. Tactics and execution matter, but the same would be said of chess. And I don’t think that qualifies as a sport. [/QUOTE] Occasionally we have discussions about whether chess is a sport. Obviously no physical prowess is required (especially playing blindfold :eek: ), but chess is certainly 100% skill and fiercely competitive. The top 100 chess players contain only one woman, Judit Polgar, who is ranked 13. [http://www.fide.com/ratings/top.phtml?list=men](http://www.fide.com/ratings/top.phtml?list=men) ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2007, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-x-beat-y-sports/396827/25 "2007-03-22T14:58:17Z")
[QUOTE=GargoyleWB] Gymnastics events are very biased toward women in general. Women are far superior in the difficulty they can pull off in most routines. There are a couple “male” events designed to take isolated advantage of men’s upper body strength (rings, pommel horse) but otherwise I see no way men could compete at the same level as women can. [/QUOTE] It’s hard to draw a parallel here since they don’t really compete in eachother’s events. Men don’t do balance beam, uneven bars and women don’t do rings, parallel bars, single bar. I think the only events they do that are similar are the running/vaulting off a horse thing and floor excercises. Both in which the men perform the more difficult manuveurs i.e. more rotations/flips etc. How about figure skating? What is the extreme amount of in air rotations nowdays and how many men vs. woman can complete them? ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2007, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-x-beat-y-sports/396827/26 "2007-03-22T15:11:13Z")
[QUOTE=Hampshire] How about figure skating? What is the extreme amount of in air rotations nowdays and how many men vs. woman can complete them? [/QUOTE] I’m not exactly an expert but most top men can do a quad of some sort but I don’t think there are any woman who can. I don’t know if this is a fair conclusion, but what that says to me, is that if quads are possible for most top men and not woman, therefore the tough triples must be easier for men than woman. How about billiards? I don’t know much about them though. ---
**Author:** ![DaphneBlack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daphneblack/32/5389_2.png) [@DaphneBlack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaphneBlack)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2007, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-x-beat-y-sports/396827/27 "2007-03-22T15:49:06Z")
I’ve always heard women were competitive with men in archery. Is this the case? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-x-beat-y-sports/396827.md?page=1)